Homeland
Security
Current Nationwide
Threat Level
ELEVATED
Daily Open Source Infrastructure
Report for 23 August 2010
Significant Risk of Terrorist Attacks
For information, click here:
http://www.dhs.gov
Top Stories
•
Malware may have been a contributory cause of a fatal Spanair crash that killed 154 people
near Madrid, Spain two years ago, according to The Register. (See item 17)
•
Associated Press reports that the U.S. for the first time is publicly warning about the
Chinese military’s use of civilian computer experts in clandestine cyber attacks aimed at
American companies and government agencies. (See item 42)
Fast Jump Menu
PRODUCTION INDUSTRIES
• Energy
• Chemical
• Nuclear Reactors, Materials and Waste
• Critical Manufacturing
• Defense Industrial Base
• Dams
SUSTENANCE and HEALTH
• Agriculture and Food
• Water
• Public Health and Healthcare
SERVICE INDUSTRIES
• Banking and Finance
• Transportation
• Postal and Shipping
• Information Technology
• Communications
• Commercial Facilities
FEDERAL and STATE
• Government Facilities
• Emergency Services
• National Monuments and Icons
Energy Sector
Current Electricity Sector Threat Alert Levels: Physical: ELEVATED,
Cyber: ELEVATED
Scale: LOW, GUARDED, ELEVATED, HIGH, SEVERE [Source: ISAC for the Electricity Sector (ES-ISAC) [http://www.esisac.com]
1. August 20, Associated Press – (Maryland; Washington D.C.) Pepco, criticized for
power outages that lasted for days, issues reliability plan. Pepco, the utility
company that has been criticized for storm-related power outages that sometimes lasted
for days in Maryland and Washington D.C., has released a plan to improve its
reliability. The utility said the five-year plan, released August 19, will cost more than
$250 million. The plan includes more tree trimming to increase space between
overhead wires and trees, and increased study of electrical distribution lines to
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determine cause of outages and how to fix them. The plan also includes replacing
underground cable, some of which was installed during the 1970s, and improving
substations. Pepco, a unit of Pepco Holdings Inc., provides service in Washington D.C.
and Prince George’s and Montgomery counties in Maryland.
Source:
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=D9HN8A
6O0
2. August 20, WJBK 2 Detroit – (Michigan) Wicked weather leaves 64,000 without
power. The summer of severe storms continued as another round of wicked weather
made its mark on metropolitan Detroit, Michigan. DTE Energy said about 64,000
customers are without power following thunderstorms August 19 bringing wind gusts
of up to 75 miles per hour. The National Weather Service issued tornado warnings, but
no funnel clouds were confirmed and much of the damage appeared to be from straight
line winds.
Source: http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/weather/70,000-without-power-followingstorm-20100819-wpms
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Chemical Industry Sector
3. August 20, azfamily.com – (Arizona) Pilot burned when crop-dusting plane crashes
near Buckeye. A crop-dusting plane crashed in the desert near Buckeye, Arizona
August 19, and authorities say it’s not the first time the pilot has been involved in a
crash. The plane crashed as it was taking off from a private airstrip in the far West
Valley just moments after the pilot had filled up with a fresh load of pesticides. It went
down near Pecos and Tuthill roads, caught fire and was destroyed. According to a
captain with the Phoenix Fire Department, the pilot suffered second- and third-degree
burns to his chest, arms and face. He was transported to Maricopa Medical Center. The
pilot, identified only as a man in his 50s, was listed in critical but stable condition the
evening of August 19. Because the pilot was covered with pesticides, hazardous
materials crews were called in to help decontaminate the pilot, the helicopter crew and
hospital personnel who treated the pilot. The medical center did not have to close
during the incident. According to a Maricopa County sheriff’s deputy, the same pilot
flying a different plane was involved in a crash near the same airstrip in April. He was
not hurt in that crash.
Source: http://www.azfamily.com/news/local/Small-plane-crashes-in-Rainbow-Valley101098864.html
4. August 19, KHAS 5 Hastings – (Nebraska) Ethanol spill closes portion of Highway
30. A hazardous materials spill early August 19 near Wood River, Nebraska, closed a
portion of Highway 30 for roughly 2 hours. Authorities also stopped trains along the
adjacent Union Pacific railroad line. Just before 4 a.m., Wood River firefighters were
called to the Pioneer Trails ethanol plant near Wood River to respond to an ethanol spill
from an 8,000 gallon storage tank. News 5 was told the spill was contained to the
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facility and no injuries were reported. Highway 30 and the rail line were reopened just
after 5:30 a.m. after air monitoring showed no hazard to traffic along the highway or
adjacent railroad.
Source: http://www.khastv.com/news/local/Ethanol-spill-closes-portion-of-Highway30-101115949.html
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Nuclear Reactors, Materials and Waste Sector
5. August 20, Denver Post – (Colorado; New Mexico) Uranium mill closing may be
temporary. Cotter Corp. will dismantle its toxic waste ponds and buildings at a
uranium mill south of Canon City, Colorado, but it intends to keep its license from state
regulators to operate at the site and may re-open, the vice president for operations said
August 19. Accelerated efforts to close down contaminated facilities at the Superfund
clean-up site are aimed at clearing a path for possible uranium processing in the future
and do not indicate Cotter plans to leave the 2,600-acre site, the vice president said.
“We can decommission parts of the facility without moving towards license
termination,” he said. “Our intention is ... to clear the path for new construction in the
future.” No date has been set or plans submitted for that construction. A new state law
requires uranium mill operators to clean up existing messes before launching new
projects. Cotter opposed that law and, before it was passed, warned it could kill a
proposed project to haul uranium from a mine in New Mexico by train and process it at
the mill. Recent Cotter letters to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Colorado
Department of Public Health and Environment regulators indicated Cotter was moving
to close down facilities and no longer would test air for emissions of cancer-causing
radon.
Source: http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_15831720
6. August 19, Bay City Tribune – (Texas) NRC asks for more details. South Texas
Project Nuclear Operating Company received a notice of violation from the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) August 13 due to missing details in the Units 3 and 4
application when an Aircraft Impact Assessment (AIA) was performed. “It is the lowest
level of violation,” an NRC spokesman said. A few years ago the NRC issued the AIA
rule stipulating that all applicants planning to build or expand new nuclear power plants
in the United States must assess the ability of their reactor designs to avoid or mitigate
the effects of a large commercial aircraft impact.
Source: http://baycitytribune.com/story.lasso?ewcd=f15252ea522f1f4e
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Critical Manufacturing Sector
7. August 20, Pottsville Republican & Herald – (Pennsylvania) Fire damages Mahanoy
Township plant. Fire damaged a building on the grounds of the Fabcon plant in
Mahanoy Township, Pennsylvania, early August 19. Firefighters from Mahanoy City
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were called to the site at about 1:20 a.m. for a report of a commercial structure fire. Onscene fire crews found smoke inside a detached building behind the company’s main
manufacturing facilities. The Mahanoy City fire chief said the fire was accidental,
caused when a steam pipe came in contact with combustible materials inside the
building. Fabcon manufactures and erects precast concrete wall panels. Firefighters
were able to bring the fire under control in less than 30 minutes and remained on scene
while the building was cleared of smoke and the fire determined to be completely
extinguished. No injuries were reported. Company personnel at the scene said the
structure houses machinery used to manufacture the concrete panels.
Source: http://republicanherald.com/news/fire-damages-mahanoy-township-plant1.961103
8. August 19, San Diego Union-Tribune – (California) Fire damages Miramar
business. An intense two-alarm fire that took an hour and a half to extinguish ripped
through a San Diego, California manufacturing business August 19, causing more than
$2 million in damage. The 2:30 a.m. blaze at the HI-Q Environmental Products Co. was
fueled by carbon, silver nitrate and other supplies used in the making of air monitoring
and sampling equipment, said a San Diego fire department spokesman. The blaze
produced thick heavy smoke and flames that shot 20 feet high from the roof. The roof
collapsed in several places, so firefighters could not attack it from inside the building.
They stayed outside and battled the flames with torrents of water. Fire officials were
also concerned about the kind of substances burning, but a hazardous-materials team
determined they would not cause additional problems.
Source: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/aug/19/miramar-industrialbuilding-burns/
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Defense Industrial Base Sector
9. August 20, Aviation Week – (National) MDA eyes missile-detecting infrared pod. In
its efforts to develop an unmanned aerial system capable of detecting boosting ballistic
missiles, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is focusing on a sensor pod that
could fly on existing UAVs, rather than a new, integrated UAV design. General
Atomics Reapers, with the Raytheon MTS-B electro-optical/IR/full-motion video
sensor, have proven the ability to detect and track a boosting missile from greater than
621 miles with “remarkable resolution,” the commander of the MDA told reporters at
the Space and Missile Defense Conference. MDA is doing the groundwork to see what
qualities an objective sensor would need and how the data would be integrated into the
larger sensor cueing and command and control architecture. The ultimate goal is to link
all sensors and shooters into a networked system. A specific ABIR fleet of UAVs is
cost prohibitive, so now the focus is on designing the pod, which could be flown on an
Air Force system such as Reaper. Global Hawk also could be an option.
Source:
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=new
s/asd/2010/08/20/02.xml&headline=MDA Eyes Missile-Detecting Infrared Pod
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10. August 18, Space News – (National) Airborne laser test delayed by component
failure. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA)’s planned August 17 flight test of
the Airborne Laser system was postponed when one of its cooling systems failed in
preparation for the test, the agency’s top official said August 18. The Airborne Laser, a
modified 747 aircraft designed to zap ballistic missiles with a high-power laser, was
being prepared for its third intercept test at Edwards Air Force Base in California. A
commercial-off-the-shelf cooling system for the aircraft’s tracking laser failed, and its
replacement is now being installed, the MDA’s director told reporters at the Space and
Missile Defense conference. The agency is targeting August 21 for the next attempt, he
said. The Airborne Laser was originally conceived to be an operational system for
boost-phase missile defense, but has since been relegated to a technology development
platform. In its first shoot-down test in February, the aircraft destroyed a boosting
sounding rocket. Eight days later, it returned to the sky and destroyed its first threatrepresentative target missile but was then unable to destroy a second target. For the
upcoming flight test, the Airborne Laser will attempt to destroy a target missile from
twice the distance of previous tests, MDA officials have said. The MDA does not
disclose actual standoff distances for flight tests.
Source: http://www.spacenews.com/military/100818-abl-test-delayed.html
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Banking and Finance Sector
11. August 20, BNO News – (Oregon) Bomb threat at Aloha, Oregon bank closes
highway. A bomb threat at a bank in Aloha, Oregon forced the closure of a busy
highway for nearly two hours August 19, authorities said. Deputies of the Washington
County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call from the bank located at 19091 SW
Tualatin Valley Highway in Aloha at approximately 5.56 p.m. The highway is locally
better known as TV Highway or Highway 8. “The caller made undisclosed demands
and threatened to detonate a bomb in or near the bank if those demands were not met,”
said a police sergeant. “Sheriff’s deputies quickly arrived on the scene and shut down
SW TV Highway at SW 185th Avenue and SW 198th Avenue to protect motorists.”
The bank and some adjacent business were evacuated while the metropolitan
explosives disposal unit looked for an explosive device, but they did not locate
anything suspicious.
Source: http://wireupdate.com/local/bomb-threat-at-aloha-oregon-bank-closeshighway/
12. August 19, Tech News Daily – (International) Top phishing gang turns to
Malware. An Internet security report released August 20 said phishing attacks dropped
10 percent from April to June 2010 year-over-year. While reassuring at first glance, the
report states cybercriminals have shifted their schemes from old-school phishing e-mail
attacks — which are designed to trick users into revealing personal information — to
distributing Zeus malware, a more insidious form of cybercrime. Phishing attacks by
Avalanche, one of the most prolific cybercriminal gangs (responsible for two-thirds of
the world’s phishing attacks in the second half of 2009), have disappeared, but other
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criminals have moved in to take its place, according to Internet Identity (IID). Phishing
targets have shifted from banks to gaming, e-commerce and social networking sites,
aiming to steal log-in information. However, Avalanche and others have turned to
distributing Zeus malware which is capable of hijacking computers, then stealing
banking, social networking and e-mail account logins, and making that information
available as part of a criminal network. Once the malware has entered the user’s
computer, the identity theft is automatic ― eliminating the need for the unsuspecting
user to supply personal information in response to a fraudulent email. The U.S.
continues to lead the world as the top hosting country for the origin of phishing scams.
Canada moved from seventh to second in the report. Germany, U.K., France round out
the top five. Russia and China are at the bottom of the list, according to the IID report.
The sources for Zeus malware show a different worldwide distribution. Europe takes
the top spot with 24 percent of malicious addresses, followed by China at 22 percent
and the U.S. at 18 percent, reported Russian-based security software provider,
Kaspersky Labs.
Source: http://www.technewsdaily.com/top-phishing-gang-turns-to-malware-1071/
13. August 19, Gainesville Sun – (National) Credit card skimmers may be part of
international scam. The rash of credit card fraud cases connected to skimmers on area
gas pumps appears to be part of an international scam, according to the National
Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) and the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office
(ACSO). Federal investigators said the scam is widespread in Florida — primarily
along interstates — and has been found in other states. Florida has become a prime
target for credit card skimmers at gas stations this summer in large part because of its
ranking as third behind California and Texas in the number of convenience stores,
according to the nation’s largest convenience store trade organization. The Sunshine
State is home to 9,223 convenience stores, and 7,280 of those stores — or almost 79
percent — have gas pumps, according to NACS, which represents 49 of the 50 top
convenience store chains in the nation. An ACSO spokesman said one pattern
investigators have noticed is that the card numbers are not used in the same area where
they were stolen. Investigators in St. Johns County had documented about 200 victims
so far this year, with most reporting card thefts during the summer months. The
spokesman said he expects at least 200 victims to be identified in Alachua County this
year.
Source: http://www.gainesville.com/article/20100819/ARTICLES/100819347/1/news?Title=Credit-card-skimmers-may-be-part-of-international-scam&tc=ar
14. August 19, Maine Public Broadcasting Network – (National) Maine AG warns of
credit card scam. Maine’s attorney general is warning people to beware of an
“advance fee” credit card scam that’s targeting Maine residents. The attorney general
said the scammers, who claim to be from “PeoplesChoice Savings,” are offering a
credit card with a $2,000 credit line. In exchange, they ask for $200 and the victim’s
bank account information so they can withdraw the funds. Officials with the
PeoplesChoice Credit Union, which has several branches in southern Maine, said they
have received several calls from consumers about the offer, which they emphasize they
have nothing to do with. The attorney general said such advance fee credit card offers
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are fraudulent, and prey on people desperate for cash. She said consumers should never
give out bank account or other personal identifying information over the phone or
Internet without confirming the requestor’s identity.
Source:
http://www.mpbn.net/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3478/ItemId/13245/Default.asp
x
15. August 19, KGTV 10 San Diego – (California) Man claiming to have bomb in bank
robbery arrested. A suspected bank robber who claimed to have a bomb while
robbing a bank in San Diego, California was arrested August 19, according to
authorities. The incident happened at the Wells Fargo Bank on 685 Saturn Boulevard
shortly after 5 p.m. According to police, the 45-year-old suspect entered the bank and
said he had a bomb inside a fanny pack. Police said a teller was able to call authorities,
and they arrested the suspect after he left the bank with an undisclosed amount of
money. The suspect apparently left the fanny pack behind. Police said the suspect
claimed to have an accomplice, and employees and bank customers were able to safely
evacuate the branch as police summoned a bomb-sniffing dog to the scene. No bomb or
threatening device was found, police said.
Source: http://www.10news.com/news/24694586/detail.html
16. August 19, WTVC 9 Chattanooga – (Tennessee) Arrest made in attempted Ringgold
bank robbery. A bomb scare at a Ringgold, Tennessee bank shut down the area off
Highway 151 for several hours August 19. Police said it was an attempted robbery, and
they have got one man in custody. It started with a phone call to FSG bank on Poplar
Springs Road around 2 p.m. “They (bank employees) told us that he called on the
phone and said there was an explosive device somewhere,” said the Ringgold police
chief. That call sent five police and fire agencies to the area with guns drawn.
Authorities soon evacuated the building. All of the FSG bank employees got out
unharmed. The police chief said after a few tense moments, they caught the man in the
parking lot. He said the man never got into the building, but because of the bomb
threat, the GBI Bomb Squad sent in a bomb defusing robot to assess the situation.
However, investigators found no evidence of a bomb.
Source: http://www.newschannel9.com/news/bank-993969-squad-called.html
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Transportation Sector
17. August 20, The Register – (International) Trojan-ridden warning system implicated
in Spanair crash. Malware may have been a contributory cause of a fatal Spanair crash
that killed 154 people two years ago. Spanair flight number JK 5022 crashed with 172
on board moments after taking off from Madrid’s Barajas Airport on a scheduled flight
to Las Palmas, Spain August 20, 2008. Just 18 survived the crash and subsequent fire
aboard the McDonnell Douglas MD-82 aircraft. The airline’s central computer, which
registered technical problems on planes, was infected by Trojans at the time of the fatal
crash and this resulted in a failure to raise an alarm over multiple problems, according
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to Spanish daily El Pais. The plane took off with flaps and slats retracted, something
that should in any case have been picked up by the pilots during pre-flight checks or
triggered an internal warning on the plane. Neither happened, with tragic consequences,
according to a report by independent crash investigators. The accident on take-off
happened after pilots had abandoned an earlier take-off attempt, and a day after two
other reported problems on board. If the airlines’ central computer was working
properly, a take-off after three warnings would not have been allowed, thereby averting
the tragedy. A mechanic who checked the plane before take-off, and an airport
maintenance chief, are under investigation and face possible manslaughter charges. An
investigating judge has ordered Spanair to supply data on the state of its systems at the
time of the crash. An investigation commission is due to report on the case by
December.
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/20/spanair_malware/
18. August 20, WBZ 38 Boston – (Massachusetts) Gas released on MBTA subway in
chemical attack tests. Scientists will be in Boston’s subway system August 20 for a
homeland security test involving the release of non-toxic gases. The weeklong study,
commissioned by the federal Homeland Security Department, will analyze how
particles would spread in a terror attack and how to minimize the impact of airborne
assaults on the nation’s subway systems. A non-toxic, odorless gas will be released into
the MBTA subway system during the afternoon commute August 20. Researchers in
subway cars, at T stations and in the tunnels will test the air to see how the gases
spread. The tests will continue over the next week. MBTA service is not expected to be
affected. A similar eight-day test was conducted in December.
Source: http://wbztv.com/local/mbta.chemical.tests.2.1870200.html
19. August 19, Fort Worth Star-Telegram – (Texas) Love Field shut down temporarily
after police chase onto runways. A pickup driver who led Dallas police on an hourlong chase August 19 before crashing through a fence at Dallas Love Field stole the
truck at knifepoint August 18 from a downtown Fort Worth hotel parking lot, police
reported. A Dallas patrol officer rammed the pickup with his car alongside a busy
airport runway, stopping the man, according to a news release from Dallas police. Both
major runways were closed from about 3:20 to 3:30 p.m. The driver was arrested. He
complained of chest pain and was taken to a hospital, according to Dallas police. The
suspect was expected to be released August 19, and then taken to a police station for
questioning, they said.
Source: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/08/19/2414726/love-field-shut-downtemporarily.html
20. August 19, Baltimore Sun – (Maryland) CSX says broken rail caused derailment in
tunnel. CSX Transportation has determined that the cause of tje August 5 derailment in
the Howard Street Tunnel in Baltimore, Maryland was defective track, a spokesman
said. The spokesman said “there’s no doubt” that a broken rail caused 13 cars to jump
the tracks in and near the more than 100-year-old tunnel — the site of a more serious
derailment in 2001 that led to a chemical fire that disrupted downtown Baltimore for a
week. The spokesman said the railroad had not determined what led to the break, but he
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said such damage typically is caused by an internal defect.
Source: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-brief-csx-derailment20100819,0,646264.story
21. August 19, WUSA 9 Washington – (Virginia) Fixing bridges in storm’s aftermath. In
the aftermath of the powerful storms that swept through the Washington, DC area
August 18, Virginia Department of Transportation crews were busy trying to fix what
heavy rain and flooding left behind. In Vienna and McLean two bridges buckled. At the
bridge at Browns Mill Road and Beulah Road, the crumbled street had branches
popping out of it. At Swinks Mill Road near Georgetown Pike, a massive tree came
down on a fire hydrant knocking out water for residents. It also damaged part of the
bridge structure. The fix will not be completed until August 20.
Source: http://www.wusa9.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=108079&catid=158
22. August 19, KATU 2 Portland – (Washington) FAA says pilot should have known
about restricted air space. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the pilot
who breached restricted air space during the U.S. President’s visit to Seattle,
Washington August 17 had been given ample notice about the restriction.The pilot and
his girlfriend were flying home to Sammamish, Washington from Lake Chelan,
Washington when they breached restricted air space, prompting two F-15s to scramble
from Portland, Oregon. The girlfriend said the pilot simply made a mistake. But the
FAA said it posted a notice about the no-fly zone well before the man took off August
17, and if he did not know about it, he should have known about it. The pilot’s mistake
also led to a near catastrophe in Pierce County where thousands called 911 after
hearing the sonic booms, effectively jamming the emergency response system.
Officials said 28 out of the 30 phone lines dispatchers typically use died, and no
emergency calls could get through for a half hour. The collapse of the 911 system is
now under investigation.
Source: http://www.katu.com/news/local/101038494.html
23. August 19, FOXNews.com – (New Jersey) TSA screeners overlooked knife in
passenger’s bag, report says. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screeners
at a major U.S. airport missed finding a knife tucked inside a passenger’s bag and may
not have taken the proper precautions when handling a hazardous device. TSA workers
at New Jersey’s Newark Liberty Airport failed to spot a knife inside a passenger’s bag,
law enforcement sources told MyFoxNY.com. The passenger voluntarily turned it over
to authorities minutes before boarding the flight, and was allowed to get on the plane
without being interviewed, the station said. Law enforcement sources said TSA
screeners also may have improperly handled a smoke bomb — the size of a dynamite
stick — that was reportedly found inside a passenger’s bag on the same day. That
passenger also was allowed to board the plane. The TSA, however, has refuted part of
the report, saying the device apprehended was not a bomb — it was a firework — and
that its officers “did follow proper protocol for handling hazardous material.” A
spokeswoman for the TSA told Foxnews.com that the person carrying the device was
interviewed by Port Authority police and was not arrested. She said that the individual
carrying what she described as a “three-inch folding knife” was allowed on the plane
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only after being interviewed by officers. “The TSA identified the officer responsible for
missing the knife and she will be sent for remedial training,” she said.
Source: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/19/tsa-screeners-missed-finding-huntingknife-inside-passengers-bag-report-claims/
24. August 19, Dallas Morning News – (National) American union threatening to leave
FAA safety program. American Airlines’ mechanics union has threatened to quit a
key aviation safety program, arguing that federal inspectors have used it to investigate
its workers. The disagreement is the latest dispute between Fort Worth-based American
and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which has closely scrutinized the
carrier’s maintenance practices for more than two years. The program at issue, known
as ASAP, encourages pilots, mechanics and other airline workers to self-report safety
violations to the FAA in exchange for immunity from punishment. To be accepted into
the program, an airline worker must be the sole source of a report, which can not
involve falsification, intentional misconduct, or alcohol or drugs. In a letter outlining its
concerns, the Transport Workers Union cited 16 recent reports in which American
mechanics disclosed violations that the union said should have shielded them from
further investigation. An FAA spokesman said the 16 reports were rejected because
they did not meet the criteria for acceptance into ASAP.
Source: http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/amr_american-unionthreatening-to-leave-faa-safety-program-1121547.html
25. August 19, San Francisco Bay City News – (California) Threat that grounded plane
at SFO was made to hotel In Alameda. A scare that grounded an American Airlines
flight for several hours at San Francisco International Airport in California August 19
appears to have stemmed from a threatening phone call made to a hotel in Alameda.
The call was received by a front desk clerk at the Hampton Inn and Suites, the hotel’s
general manager said. He said the caller was a man with an unidentified accent who
said he was going to hijack American Airlines Flight No. 24. An Alameda police
lieutenant said police received a report at 9:09 a.m. that a clerk received a call from a
stranger who had made a threat against an airliner. Police investigated and determined
the threat was specific enough that it merited contacting federal authorities. Flight 24
was initially scheduled to depart at 7:40 a.m. for John F. Kennedy International Airport
in New York but was delayed for unrelated reasons until 9:15 a.m., passengers said.
Police got the call just before the flight was scheduled to take off and notified the FBI,
prompting authorities to hold the plane on the tarmac for several hours. Two passengers
were detained for questioning and one man was led off the plane in handcuffs, but
police said late August 19 that no one remained in custody. The flight was carrying 163
passengers and 11 crewmembers, an American Airlines spokeswoman said. The
passengers were removed from the plane and were taken to a terminal for screening, a
San Francisco police sergeant said. Passengers on Flight 24 were rebooked on other
flights.
Source: http://sfappeal.com/alley/2010/08/threat-that-grounded-plane-at-sfo-was-madeto-hotel-in-alameda.php
For another story, see item 4
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[Return to top]
Postal and Shipping Sector
26. August 19, Associated Press – (Colorado) Boulder police investigate mailbox
explosions. Police in Boulder, Colorado are investigating what appears to be the latest
in a series of homemade explosive devices being set off in the area. Police said four
mailboxes in north Boulder were damaged August 18 by what appear to be pipe-type
explosive devices. The incidents follows reports of homemade explosives found in
neighborhoods in the Niwot and Gunbarrel areas. Boulder County sheriff’s deputies
found the remains of four explosive devices last week around a swimming pool. Plastic
bottles were filled with a chemical and aluminum foil that generated explosive
hydrogen gas. In July, Lafayette police found at least two pipe bombs in a city park.
One had been detonated.
Source:
http://cbs4denver.com/wireapnewsco/Boulder.police.investigate.2.1869845.html
27. August 19, New Jersey Local News Service – (New Jersey) Powder in letter causes
HazMat scare at Hillsborough business. The Somerset County Hazardous Materials
Team in New Jersey was dispatched to an office complex on Amwell Road in
Hillsborough, New Jersey August 18, after a business received a threatening letter
containing a white powdery substance, police said. Police said a business at 390
Amwell Road received an envelope containing a letter threatening one of its employees
shortly before 6 p.m., and two employees felt minor discomfort after being exposed to
the powdery substance contained inside. The employees were transported to Somerset
Medical Center for evaluation while the Somerset Hazardous Materials Team and the
Hillsborough Office of Emergency Management responded to the scene. The
employees were later released from the hospital, and results of the medical examination
and information from the business complex showed no evidence that the powdery
substance was hazardous. The investigation was ongoing, according to authorities.
Source:
http://www.nj.com/news/local/index.ssf/2010/08/powder_in_letter_causes_hazmat.htm
l
[Return to top]
Agriculture and Food Sector
28. August 20, Des Moines Register – (Iowa) Ammonia leak forces Lacona
evacuation. A leaking pipe on an anhydrous ammonia tank at the South Central CoOp, a farmer-owned agriculture coop, forced portions of Lacona, Iowa, a town of 350,
to evacuate for many hours August 19. The leak began after 10 a.m. A resident called
911 after spotting something coming from one of the co-op’s half dozen 33,000-gallon
tanks. Firefighters went door to door in the immediate area to alert residents, and an
automated calling system alerted the rest of the community about the danger. Officials
- 11 -
opened a temporary shelter at Southeast Warren Junior-Senior High School in Liberty
Center, about 10 miles away. The Warren County Emergency Management director
said a broken pipe that runs beneath the large anhydrous ammonia tank was the leak’s
source. An investigation will attempt to determine why the leak started. It was not
immediately known how much ammonia was inside the tank or how much escaped.
The Des Moines Fire Department’s hazardous-materials team helped shut down the
leak, and residents were allowed to return to homes and businesses by 1 p.m.
Source: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100820/NEWS/8200354/1/GETPUBLISHED03scripts/Ammonia-leak-forces-evacuation
29. August 20, KTVZ 21 Bend – (Oregon) Fire damages Chan’s Restaurant in Bend. A
smoky attic fire heavily damaged a popular Chinese restaurant in southeast Bend,
Oregon August 20, forcing evacuation of nearby apartment residents, and closure of
Third Street for hours. The first calls of smoke in the area came in around 2 a.m. Fire
crews battled the blaze from outside and investigators were waiting for the building to
be deemed safe to enter and look for the cause. About 20 to 30 residents of an
apartment complex behind the restaurant were awakened and evacuated as a precaution
but were allowed to return home after sunrise as the fire was put out and mopped up.
Third Street was shut between Reed Market Road and McKinley Avenue for about four
hours, with authorities urging motorists to avoid the area. It reopened around 6 p.m. A
Bend deputy fire marshal said there was a small amount of smoke damage, but
significant water damage to the restaurant itself. The initial loss was estimated to be
$500,000.
Source: http://www.ktvz.com/news/24700036/detail.html
30. August 19, KSL 5 Salt Lake City – (Utah) Salt Lake Quiznos customers may be at
risk of hepatitis A. Salt Lake Valley health workers in are warning the public about a
case of hepatitis A found in an employee of a downtown Salt Lake City, Utah Quiznos.
They say people who ate at the sandwich shop on 30 East and 300 South between
August 5 and August 7 may be at risk for hepatitis A and should receive a hepatitis A
vaccine or an immune globulin injection as soon as they can. People who ate at that
store before those dates may have been exposed to hepatitis A also but would not
benefit from an immunization. Quiznos will cover the cost of immunizations, which are
available at the Salt Lake Valley Heath Department City Clinic. Health workers said
there is no current risk of exposure. “It’s only at that one specific Quiznos location, and
they’ve been very cooperative; and this establishment was inspected this morning
(August 19) and looked very good,” an epidemiologist with the Salt Lake Valley
Health Department said.
Source: http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=12068340
31. August 19, WGAU 1340 Athens – (Georgia) Food warehouse busted. An allegedly
illegal food warehouse was busted in Athens, Georgia. The state department of
agriculture said the Mid State Services Warehouse was unlicensed and unhealthy. The
warehouse stocked mostly snack food that was sold to inmates in jails in Georgia and in
other states. U.S. Marshals, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and Georgia
agriculture officials seized almost $900,000 in food products. No charges have been
- 12 -
filed, but the investigation is ongoing.
Source: http://1340wgau.com/localnews/2010/08/food-warehouse-busted.html
32. August 19, KBAK 29 Bakersfield – (California) 82-square-mile quarantine declared
for melon fruit fly. Six melon fruit flies were caught in traps the week of August 9
near Mettler, California, about 25 miles south of Bakersfield. The flies have the
potential to devastate Kern County’s agriculture industry. “I think every farmer’s
probably concerned about it, and I think they’d be lying if they weren’t,” a local farmer
said about the flies. The problem with the fly is that it lays its eggs in fruit, making it
inedible. Because five flies were found in a single trap, an 82-square mile quarantine is
now in effect. The earliest it could be lifted is April 2011. “An insect of this magnitude
could potentially devastate not only Kern County, but the whole state’s $45 billion
industry,” Kern County’s agricultural commissioner said. The flies were found near a
pepper field northwest of Mettler. Since August 16, crews from the California
Conservation Corps and the California Department of Food and Agriculture are
working to remove every single pepper from the field.
Source: http://www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/101127014.html
33. August 19, CNN – (National) CDC: Tainted eggs may have sickened hundreds in
recent months. The salmonella outbreak that led to the recall of 380 million eggs was
preventable and will likely grow, federal officials said August 19. Hundreds of
Americans likely have become ill from tainted eggs in recent months, according to
estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a CDC
spokeswoman said August 19. From May 1 to July 31, a total of 1,953 cases of
Salmonella enteritidis were reported; the expected number of such cases ordinarily in
that time would be about 700, the acting director of the CDC’s division of food-borne,
waterborne and environmental diseases said in a conference call August 19. The CDC
is not yet sure exactly how many cases can be attributed to this particular outbreak. The
salmonella outbreak prompted Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa, to increase its recall
August 18 to 380 million eggs. The number of salmonella cases is expected to grow
because any that occurred after July 17 may not yet be reported due to a two- to threeweek lag between when a person becomes sick and when the case gets reported in the
system, the CDC said.
Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/08/19/eggs.recall.salmonella/index.html?eref=rss
_latest&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+rss/cnn_l
atest+(RSS:+Most+Recent)
34. August 18, Associated Press – (National) AP poll: Majority not confident Gulf
seafood, water safe. A majority of Americans are not convinced it is safe to eat
seafood from parts of the Gulf of Mexico or take a dip in its waters, a new Associated
Press poll shows. Gulf fisheries are beginning to reopen more than three months after
the oil began gushing from BP’s busted well, and the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) asserts that seafood from reopened areas or those unaffected by
the spill are ready for public consumption. The FDA said that although crude has the
potential to taint seafood with flavors and odor caused by exposure to hydrocarbon
- 13 -
chemicals, people should not worry about the safety of seafood in stores. “There’s
nothing wrong with Gulf seafood, because it’s tested probably more than any seafood
that’s being removed right now,” a retired Coast Guard admiral said during a press
briefing August 18. The Associated Press-GfK poll that surveyed 1,007 adults
nationwide between August 11-16, found that 54 percent did not trust the seafood and
55 percent were not confident the beaches in the affected areas were safe for
swimming. The Gulf accounts for a majority of the domestic shrimp and oysters eaten
by Americans and about 2 percent of overall U.S. seafood consumption.
Source: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/08/ap-poll-bpimages/1
[Return to top]
Water Sector
35. August 19, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – (Iowa) Decision on Iowa’s Water
Quality Standards. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved
revised Iowa water quality standards to support recreational activities and the
protection of aquatic life. The approved water quality standards verify the state’s
designated uses for 64 water body segments in Iowa. Iowa Department of Natural
Resources (IDNR) submitted new and revised Iowa surface water quality standards to
EPA for review and approval, as required by the Clean Water Act. The state based its
recommendations on specific field data gathered by representatives of IDNR in Iowa
streams, lakes, and rivers. Designated recreational uses protect water quality for
activities such as swimming, fishing and canoeing, and human consumption of aquatic
life. Aquatic life uses provide for the protection and maintenance of a healthy
environment for fish and other animals.
Source:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/DA3E3B0EC0F4B900852577840075DB0
0
36. August 18, KFDA 10 Amarillo – (Texas) Canyon wastewater spill. Pipes have been
repaired after 80,000 gallons of wastewater spilled in south Randall County, Texas. The
City of Canyon said it happened August 17 on south Western Street about four and a
half miles south of Canyon. They said a pressure surge in the pipeline caused a failure
of the controls at the pump station. The wastewater was cleaned up and the area was
disinfected. The water did not make it onto any private property.
Source: http://www.newschannel10.com/Global/story.asp?S=13005923
37. August 18, KXXV 25 Waco – (Texas) Waco issues emergency water
conservation. The City of Waco, Texas, is making an emergency request to eliminate
all irrigation for the next few days. The request is due to a 48-inch raw water line to the
Mount Carmel Water Treatment Plant rupturing August 18. Officials said there is a
backup 36-inch line to the plant, however, the volume that can be supplied to the water
treatment plant and then to the distribution system is reduced. A minimum of three days
of repair is anticipated, with a longer repair time probable. Officials are asking
- 14 -
residents to conserve water as much as possible during this time. The City of Woodway
has also issued a boil order as a precaution for residents west of Estates Drive and
Hewitt Drive.
Source: http://www.kxxv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13008487
For another story, see item 21
[Return to top]
Public Health and Healthcare Sector
38. August 20, Mt.Carmel Daily Republican Register – (Indiana) Whooping cough
confirmed in Wabash County; residents urged to get vaccinated. At least one
confirmed case of pertussis has recently been reported in Wabash County, Indiana as
well as seven confirmed cases in neighboring Lawrence County. A Wabash County
Health Department administrator is urging members of the community to get
vaccinated to prevent the spread of this highly contagious respiratory tract infection.
Pertussis, also know as “whooping cough,” will initially resemble an ordinary cold, but
it may eventually turn more serious, particularly in infants. Whooping cough is most
contagious before the coughing starts. The best way to prevent it is through
vaccinations. But, despite the use of pertussis-containing vaccine, cases of pertussis
have been on the rise in many communities nationwide, with an increasing burden of
disease reported among adolescents and adults.
Source: http://tristate-media.com/drr/news/local_news/article_c2665a30-ac6e-11dfbfc4-001cc4c03286.html
39. August 20, Palm Springs Desert Sun – (California) Indio fire forces health care
center evacuation. More than 60 elderly patients were briefly evacuated August 19
when a fire broke out at an Indio, California health care facility. The fire started in the
attic of Desert Springs Healthcare and Wellness Center, 82-262 Valencia Ave., shortly
before 2 p.m. Twenty-three people — all of them patients of the health care facility —
were taken to Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage or John F. Kennedy
Memorial Hospital in Indio as a precaution for heat-related illness or to check for
smoke inhalation. “They’re elderly. It’s 112 degrees outside and a little too much for
them to take,” a Cal fire spokesman said. The two-alarm blaze prompted about 60
firefighters to respond. Facility employees and firefighters helped evacuate 61 patients.
To ensure no one succumbed to heat-related ailments, authorities used 10 fire engines
— including a breathing support unit — and three ambulances to block off the street to
create a makeshift triage scenario. Firefighters also carried couches onto neighbors’
lawns across the street, set up tents outside the building and wheeled patients into the
shade. “Not every day do we run into a situation where we have to go to a health care
facility and shift from a fire to a medical-type operation,” the Cal Fire spokesman said.
The patients who were not hospitalized were back in the west part of the building,
which wasn’t touched by the fire, within about an hour.
Source: http://www.mydesert.com/article/20100820/NEWS0803/8200333/Indio-fireforces-health-care-center-evacuation
- 15 -
[Return to top]
Government Facilities Sector
40. August 20, WIAT 42 Birmingham – (Alabama) Update - Explosion rocks UAB
campus. A transformer exploded about 8 p.m. August 19 at the southside substation
run by Alabama Power in Birmingham. About a hundred students were at the
University of Alabama at Birmingham’s (UAB) Mervyn H. Sterne Library, which is
adjacent to the substation, at the time of the explosion. The library, along with a few
other adjacent buildings, was evacuated. And authorities worked to close off the street
to regular traffic. The substation sits off 13th Street South, between University
Boulevard and 11th Avenue South. The explosion caused outages along 13th, and also
at a handful of traffic lights at nearby intersections.
Source: http://www.cbs42.com/mostpopular/story/Update-Explosion-Rocks-UABCampus/kz7hU2QsMUGaLj8PGR9k1Q.cspx
41. August 19, New Haven Register – (Connecticut) Laptop with Social Security
numbers stolen from UConn West Hartford. University of Connecticut officials are
investigating the theft of a laptop computer from its West Hartford campus that
contains the names and Social Security numbers of 10,174 applicants, many of whom
were selected for consideration to attend the regional campus. This is the second
incident of a missing laptop with sensitive information made public this week. The
state attorney general is investigating the theft of a laptop from the Yale School of
Medicine that contained clinical health information for approximately 1,000 patients.
UConn officials said the theft of its laptop, which was being kept in a storage cabinet at
the West Hartford campus information technology department, was discovered August
3. They said steps have been taken to prevent unauthorized access to the university
through this computer, and there is no indication it was stolen for the purpose of
identify theft.
Source:
http://www.westhartfordnews.com/articles/2010/08/19/news/doc4c6d6ca4879e499189
9745.txt
42. August 19, Associated Press – (International) Pentagon takes aim at China cyber
threat. The U.S. for the first time is publicly warning about the Chinese military’s use
of civilian computer experts in clandestine cyber attacks aimed at American companies
and government agencies. In a move that is being seen as a pointed signal to Beijing,
the Pentagon laid out its concerns this week in a carefully worded report. The People’s
Liberation Army, the Pentagon said, is using “information warfare units” to develop
viruses to attack enemy computer systems and networks, and those units include
civilian computer professionals. The assertion shines a light on a quandary that has
troubled American authorities for some time: How does the U.S. deal with cyber
espionage emanating from China and almost certainly directed by the government —
despite the fact that U.S. officials don’t have or can’t show proof of those ties? Asked
about the civilian hackers, a Defense Department spokesman said the Pentagon is
concerned about any potential threat to its computer networks. The Pentagon, said a
- 16 -
spokesman will monitor the PLA’s buildup of its cyberwarfare capabilities, and “will
continue to develop capabilities to counter any potential threat.”
Source:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i49n7xcjIHBv_Uq9SOjyP7vs6f
8wD9HMP8R00
43. August 19, Austin American-Statesman – (Texas) Fort Hood gate briefly closed after
explosive trace found. Officials in Fort Hood, Texas, temporarily closed the East
Range Road gate early August 19 after gate guards discovered a cement truck with
possible traces of explosive residue during a routine vehicle search. The guards
immediately alerted Fort Hood Emergency Services who set up a full security
perimeter around the vehicle in question. All traffic was redirected to other gates while
further tests were conducted. These tests indicated that the vehicle did not contain any
explosives, and the gate was reopened to all vehicular traffic.
Source: http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/sharedgen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2010/08/19/fort_hood_gate_briefly_closed.html?cxntfid
=blogs_the_blotter
44. August 19, Seattle Times – (Washington) PCB contamination found in King County
Youth Services Center courthouse. Employees in King County’s problem-plagued
youth services center courthouse in Seattle will be moved as soon as possible because
of contamination by toxic PCBs that have spread from window caulking to carpets
inside and soil outside. Although the potentially cancer-causing chemicals were found
only at low levels indoors and are not believed to pose an immediate health risk, a
superior court presiding judge said managers in several departments have concluded
that courts and offices for prosecutors, social workers, probation officers and clerks
must be moved to other locations while the problem is fixed. “We’re taking this very
seriously and we’re working on it on an emergency basis,” a judge said. “Our goal is to
relocate the employees out of there as fast as we can so that the remediation can be
completed in the most cost-effective manner and in a way that protects the public and
our employees. We are scrambling right now to determine literally how many days it
will take us to come up with a plan to evacuate the building.” A spokeswoman for the
department of executive services said the courts will be moved within the next several
weeks because it would be too difficult and costly to remove hazardous materials while
business is being conducted in the building.
Source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012668774_pcbs20m.html
For another story, see item 45
[Return to top]
Emergency Services Sector
45. August 19, KHBS 40 Fort Smith – (Arkansas) Emergency responders conduct fullscale disaster drill. August 19, a joint training exercise was conducted on property
owned by the Fort Smith Regional Airport in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The mock drill was
- 17 -
designed to promote coordination among emergency response agencies. This was the
first time the full-scale disaster exercise was conducted at night. The scenario involved
a collision between two planes. “The FAA requires us to exercise every year, and every
third year (it’s) a full drill like we’re having this evening,” said the director of the Fort
Smith Regional Airport. The 188th Air National Guard provides crash, fire and rescue
services for the regional airport as part of a joint-use agreement. The exercise sent
rescue teams into extremely dangerous conditions. Firefighters wore silver suits
designed for use when flammable materials are part of the emergency. During the drill,
a siren was sounded warning crews that a hazardous material had been detected.
Firefighters backed away from the scene, while service calls went out for support teams
from the Fort Smith Fire Department’s bomb squad and haz-mat team.
Source: http://www.4029tv.com/r/24695622/detail.html
For another story, see item 22
[Return to top]
Information Technology Sector
46. August 20, The Register – (International) Researcher: Code-execution bug affects
200 Windows apps. About 200 Windows applications are vulnerable to remote codeexecution attacks that exploit a bug in the way the programs load binary files for the
Microsoft operating system, a security researcher said August 19. The critical
vulnerability, which has already been patched in Apple’s iTunes media player for
Windows and VMware Tools, will be especially challenging to fix, because each
application will ultimately need to receive its own patch, the CEO of application
security consultancy Acros Security, told The Register. He agreed with a fellow
researcher who on August 18 said the critical vulnerability is trivial to exploit. At the
time, the second researcher estimated 40 programs were vulnerable, but security
experts from Slovenia-based Acros have found that about 200 of the 220 applications
they have tested so far suffer from what they are calling the binary-planting bug. They
have yet to complete their inquiry. Acros researchers alerted Microsoft to the
vulnerability about four months ago and have been working with members of its
security team since then to coordinate a fix with the many affected parties. So far, what
is known about the vulnerability comes mostly from an advisory Acros issued for the
iTunes patch. The bug allows attackers to execute malicious code on Windows
machines by getting the media player to open a file located on the same network share
as a maliciously designed DLL file, it said. In some cases, the bugs can be exploited to
execute EXE files and other types of binaries, as well, the researcher said.
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/20/windows_code_execution_vuln/
47. August 20, Help Net Security – (International) Rogue AV uses legitimate uninstallers
to cripple computers. The fact that some rogue AV solutions try to prevent the real
ones from doing their job is widely known in the security community, but CoreGuard
Antivirus — a “popular” fake AV solution - has been spotted utilizing legitimate
software uninstallers to trick users into uninstalling their legitimate security software.
- 18 -
When the malicious file is executed, a message box opens up. Clicking on the “OK”
button — or even on the “Close” button — starts the installer of the antivirus in
question. Symantec researchers reveal that the fake solution searches for uninstaller
information in the Windows registry and launches the right uninstaller for certain
legitimate AV solution installed on the system, such as products from Microsoft, AVG,
Symantec, Spyware Doctor, and Zone Labs. It then tries to download “AnVi
Antivirus,” another rogue AV that is actually a clone of CoreGuard Antivirus.
Source: http://www.net-security.org/malware_news.php?id=1437
48. August 20, Computerworld – (International) Google patches 10 Chrome bugs, pays
out $10K in bounties. Google August 19 patched 10 vulnerabilities in Chrome, but did
not award any of the researchers who reported bugs the new top-dollar reward of
$3,133. The security update to Chrome 5.0.375.125 fixed two vulnerabilities rated
“critical,” Google’s most serious threat rating, seven labeled “high” and another pegged
as “medium.” Google divulged no details of the vulnerabilities, and as is its custom,
blocked public access to its bug-tracking database, a practice meant to keep attackers
from using the information before most users have upgraded. Some rivals, such as
Mozilla, do the same; others, like Microsoft, do not. Google often blocks access to
information on serious vulnerabilities for two months or longer. Of the 10
vulnerabilities, two could apparently be exploited by malicious files, including SVG
image files and MIME-type files. Others could potentially be used to spoof the address
bar’s contents or reveal a password. According to a blog post by a researcher of the
Chrome team, Google also added a workaround for a critical bug in non-Google code.
Source:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9181060/Google_patches_10_Chrome_bugs_
pays_out_10K_in_bounties
49. August 19, Krebs on Security – (International) Adobe issues Acrobat, Reader security
patches. Adobe Systems Inc. issued software updates August 19 to fix at least two
security vulnerabilities in its widely-used Acrobat and PDF Reader products. Updates
are available for Windows, Mac and UNIX versions of these programs. Acrobat and
Reader users can update to the latest version, v. 9.3.4, using the built-in updater, by
clicking “Help” and then “Check for Updates.” The August 19 update is an out-ofcycle release for Adobe, which recently moved to a quarterly patch release schedule.
The company said the update addresses a vulnerability that was demonstrated at the
Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas. The release notes also reference a flaw
detailed by a researcher back in March. Adobe said it is not aware of any active attacks
that are exploiting either of these bugs.
Source: http://krebsonsecurity.com/2010/08/adobe-issues-acrobat-reader-securitypatches/
50. August 19, The Register – (International) Linux kernel purged of five-year-old root
access bug. The Linux kernel has finally been purged of a privilege-escalation
vulnerability that for at least half a decade allowed untrusted local users to gain
unfettered rights to the operating system’s most secure locations. Maintainers of the
central Linux component issued a patch recently that killed the bug, which allowed
- 19 -
unprivileged users to gain root access. While Linux overlords stopped short of
declaring it a security vulnerability, they stressed that the patch should be installed as
soon as possible. The vulnerability was described as long ago as 2005 by a researcher,
but it remained largely overlooked until a researcher at Invisible Things Lab started
investigating related issues. In a PDF paper published August 17, he outlined a method
that exploits the underlying bug using the Xorg server, which is instrumental in
providing graphical user interface functions in Linux and is also referred to as the X
server. The memory-corruption bug stems from two memory regions of the X server
that grow in the opposite directions in the address space, an attribute inherited from the
x86 architecture designed by Intel. Attackers can force the two regions to collide,
causing critical control data to be replaced with values that allow the X server to be
hijacked. The bulletin accompanying the kernel fix described the implementation of “a
guard page below a grow-down stack segment.” It’s a fairly exotic exploit, and can
only be used locally, unless combined with an unrelated vulnerability.
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/19/linux_vulnerability_fix/
51. August 19, InformationWeek – (International) Chrome, Safari see surge in
vulnerabilities. Web application vulnerabilities during the first two quarters of 2010
represent a smaller percentage (66 percent) of total commercial application
vulnerabilities (4,019) than they did during the latter two quarters of 2009 (82 percent
of 2652). But Web application vulnerabilities during the first half of the year (2,645)
were about the same as the total number of vulnerabilities in commercial apps detected
during the second half of 2009, while the overall number of application vulnerabilities
in 2010 increased by 50 percent. As noted in the Cenzic Q1,Q2 2010 Trends Report,
some 60 percent of these Web vulnerabilities still have no fix available and exploit
code is publicly available for about 45 percent of them. Comparing the Q1/Q2 2010
period to the Q3/Q4 2009 period, the report observes that while Mozilla Firefox and
Microsoft Internet Explorer had fewer vulnerabilities (59 vs. 77 and 40 vs. 44,
respectively), Apple Safari and Google Chrome exhibited far more vulnerabilities (83
vs. 25 and 69 vs. 25). Nonetheless, all browser makers have addressed vulnerabilities
promptly, Cenzic says. Cenzic attributes the soaring number of vulnerabilities in Safari
and Chrome toWebKit, the open-source rendering engine used in both browsers, and to
iPhone and Android flaws.
Source:
http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=2
26700519
For more stories, see items 12 and 42
Internet Alert Dashboard
To report cyber infrastructure incidents or to request information, please contact US-CERT at sos@us-cert.gov or
visit their Web site: http://www.us-cert.gov
Information on IT information sharing and analysis can be found at the IT ISAC (Information Sharing and
Analysis Center) Web site: https://www.it-isac.org
- 20 -
[Return to top]
Communications Sector
52. August 19, IDG News Service – (National) Trade groups oppose mandatory FM on
mobile devices. Trade groups representing consumer electronics makers and mobile
carriers have voiced opposition to a recent proposal by the radio and recording
industries to require all mobile devices in the U.S. to include FM receivers. The
proposal, made by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), comes as the trade
group attempts to come to an agreement with a group affiliated with the Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA) in a longstanding battle over whether radio
stations should pay royalties to record labels and performers for playing their songs.
The NAB released the framework of a potential compromise over so-called
performance royalties earlier this month: Radio stations would pay a royalty of 1
percent or less, and in exchange the U.S. Congress would require all mobile devices to
include FM receiver chips.
Source:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9181018/Trade_groups_oppose_mandatory_F
M_on_mobile_devices
53. August 19, V3.co.uk – (International) BlackBerry emails can be monitored, says
India. Indian officials may have come up with a way of monitoring encrypted
corporate e-mails sent from BlackBerry devices, according to a government source.
The method involves intercepting and making a copy of a corporate e-mail at the
moment it is sent to a company’s enterprise server, and then sending it on to the ISP’s
monitoring systems. “Enterprise mail services offered on BlackBerry platforms and
other services provided on virtual private networks can possibly be monitored by
feeding back a clear e-mail from the enterprise e-mail server to the monitoring system
located at each of the ISPs’ premises,” said the Indian Department of
Telecommunications, according to a report in the local Economic Times. It is still
unclear whether the Indian authorities are looking to decrypt data, or would be happy
with monitoring encrypted communications.
Source: http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2268476/rim-reaches-deal-bes-email
54. August 19, Compterworld – (National) RFID tags found to work better in building
ducts. A research team at North Carolina State University has used a building
ventilation duct to at least triple the normal distance that radio waves emitted from
passive radio frequency identification (RFID) tags can travel over open space. The
discovery means that a small, inexpensive RFID tag could be used to wirelessly
transmit data from any temperature sensor, smoke detector, carbon monoxide monitor
or a sensor to detect chemical, biological or radiological agents in a large building,
according to one of the main researchers and head of the university’s department of
electrical and computer engineering. He told R&D magazine that using the RFID tags
with electronic sensors could be “immediately economically viable” because it would
mean the wiring and the labor to install the wiring would not be needed to connect a
building’s various sensors. The research will be published in the September issue of
- 21 -
Proceedings of the IEEE, according to a synopsis in R&D Magazine.
Source:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9180947/RFID_tags_found_to_work_better_i
n_building_ducts
[Return to top]
Commercial Facilities Sector
55. August 20, Portsmouth Herald – (New Hampshire) Experts confirm device on Rye
beach was pipe bomb. Police August 19 confirmed the suspicious device found on
Jenness Beach in Rye, New Hampshire was a pipe bomb that could have caused harm
if ignited. The Rye police chief issued a statement saying his department had received
information from the public and is continuing to work with state police and the FBI to
locate the origin of the pipe bomb. The incendiary device, described as a silver pipe
about 8-inches long, capped at each end, with a wick coming out of the side, was
discovered along the water line around 6 p.m. August 14 by a beachgoer.
Source:
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100820/NEWS/8200373/
-1/NEWSMAP
56. August 19, Muskogee Phoenix – (Oklahoma) Motel fire blamed on meth lab. A fire
that began early August 19 at a Muskogee, Oklahoma motel is being attributed to a
methamphetamine lab. The fire began at about 12:10 a.m. at the Catalina Motel. An
assistant fire marshal estimated damage to the building at $15,000 and another $7,000
for the contents. The motel’s maintenance man said someone knocked on his door and
said there was a fire in the room two doors down from his. He grabbed a fire
extinguisher and tried to put out the fire. “By the time he notified authorities, all the
occupants were gone,” the Muskogee Police Department said . When firefighters
realized meth was being manufactured in the room, they called out the police and a
person trained to deal with hazardous materials. The person the room was registered to
was in jail, but police said they have some leads in the case.
Source: http://muskogeephoenix.com/local/x1668174806/Motel-fire-blamed-on-methlab
[Return to top]
National Monuments and Icons Sector
57. August 20, CNN – (Arizona) Manhunt ends with arrests of Arizona escapee, alleged
accomplice. A tip from an observant forest ranger led to the arrest of an Arizona prison
escapee and his alleged accomplice who had been on the run since last month,
authorities said late August 19. The pair was arrested at a campground on the edge of
Apache and Sitgreaves National Forests in Springerville, Arizona, according to a U.S.
Marshal. A park ranger noticed an unattended fire at a campsite and spotted a
suspicious car backed into some trees, authorities said. A license plate check
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determined it matched the description of one recently stolen in New Mexico, near
where a couple was murdered. The two suspects are suspected in the killings of the
couple, whose bodies were found in their burned out camper this month, according to
authorities. A SWAT team from the Apache County Sheriff’s Department was called to
the campground site, where they made the arrests. Authorities said the accomplice
attempted to pull out a gun tucked in the small of her back, but SWAT members were
able to stop her before the weapon was fired. The prison escapee was lying down
outside a domed tent and said later he should have fired at the deputies and the park
ranger.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/08/20/arizona.escapees/?hpt=Sbin
58. August 20, Eugene Register-Guard – (Oregon) Crews get the jump on lightningcaused fires across the Willamette National Forest. Dozens of small fires continued
to simmer in the Willamette National Forest in Oregon August 19, but many are
contained and the largest cover only a few acres, forest officials said. Lightning from
thunderstorms earlier in the week left a trail of more than 90 smoldering or blazing
patches stretching across the national forest. Smokejumpers and two interagency hot
shot crews along with several engines and two helicopters are assigned to the
firefighting effort. The Oregon Department of Forestry has pitched in and taken the
lead on fighting some of the lightning fires. Many of the fires on the McKenzie River
and Middle Fork Ranger Districts have been contained, officials said August 19. More
than 40 fires were found on the Detroit Ranger District. Some have been suppressed,
but a number remain active, including four in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness. The
largest fire is about 5 miles south of Detroit Lake on Lucky Butte and is estimated at 6
acres. The Forest Service is hitting the Lucky Butte fire and surrounding trees and
undergrowth with water bucket drops from helicopters.
Source: http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/updates/25199219-55/firesforest-lightning-thursday-contained.csp
59. August 19, KBZK 7 Boozeman – (Wyoming) Yellowstone National Park fire burns
75 acres. Strong winds near the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park in
Wyoming brought to life a fire that ignited from a series of lightning storms that passed
through the area more than a week ago. The 75-acre East Fire is burning within a few
miles of the park’s east entrance, but officials report that the blaze has not forced any
closures and the that the fire is not posing a threat to park visitors. Firefighters spent
August 19 setting up precautionary structure protection for the developed area around
the east entrance to the park.
Source: http://www.kbzk.com/news/yellowstone-national-park-fire-burns-75-acres/
60. August 19, Portland Oregonian – (Oregon) Deschutes River sites evacuated due to
fires; D. Harris fire near Maupin upgraded to conflagration. Wildfires forced the
evacuation August 19 of recreation sites around the Deschutes River in the Maupin area
of Oregon. The Central Oregon Interagency Dispatch Center said the area included the
Oasis, Blue Hole, Oak Springs and White River campgrounds as well as day use of the
river. Helicopters were scooping water to drop on the Devil’s Half Acre fire, which
reached 500 acres. It was paired with the nearby Falls Canyon fire, at 3,200 acres, and
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dubbed the Lower Deschutes complex. Late August 19, Oregon’s governor declared
another blaze near Maupin, the D. Harris fire, a conflagration. That authorized the state
fire marshal to mobilize crews and equipment to help local firefighters. Portland metroarea firefighters were deployed to the Maupin area about 8 p.m. Maupin residents were
advised to gather up valuable papers, irreplaceable items, medications and an overnight
bag with personal items in case they have to leave. Meanwhile, the Oak Flat fire, about
20 miles southwest of Grants Pass, reached 1,250 acres. Crews reported it was 15
percent contained, and fire lines and burnouts around it were nearly completed. The
Illinois River corridor in the area remained open despite smoke.
Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwestnews/index.ssf/2010/08/deschutes_river_sites_evacuated_due_to_fires_d_harris_fire_n
ear_maupin_upgraded_to_conflagation.html
For another story, see item 61
[Return to top]
Dams Sector
61. August 20, Medford Mail Tribune – (Oregon) Blue Ledge mine breach halts
cleanup. An excavator in Oregon removing contaminated tailings from an old copper
mine high in the Applegate River drainage breached an unmapped tunnel filled with
water August 18, raising fears that toxic materials may have made their way into a
nearby creek. The breach of the Blue Ledge copper mine prompted the firm removing
the contaminated material as part of a $11.1 million clean-up effort to halt the work in
that area until the site could be checked for more tunnels not shown on available maps,
said a spokesman for the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. The mining tailings
are laced with a heavy-metal mix of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, sulfuric acid, and
zinc. While it is not known yet if the waters carried the toxins, the flow from the breach
temporarily turned Joe Creek brown. Joe Creek flows into Elliot Creek, which flows
past the tiny community of Joe Bar where residents rely on shallow wells near the
stream for their domestic water supply. “The Spider [excavator] ran into an unmapped
adit (tunnel entrance) at the base of the rock and breached the adit, which was full of
water,” he said of the work being done on the steep slope. The toxic tailings
reclamation project, funded by federal stimulus dollars, is an effort to remove the heavy
metals that have been polluting the upper drainage for decades, according to forest
officials. About 48,000 cubic yards of hazardous materials are expected to be removed
from the mine and placed in a nearby repository. Engineering/Remediation Resources
Group Inc. of Martinez, Calif., has been contracted to do the work, which is not
expected to be completed until next summer.
Source:
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100820/NEWS/8200330
62. August 20, WPRI 12 Providence – (Rhode Island) Violation issued to Blue Pond Dam
owner. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) has
issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) to the Ashville Corporation and its parent
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company, Green Plastics Corporation, for failing to maintain the former Blue Pond dam
in a safe condition. The former dam and pond are located Hopkinton, just north of
Canonchet Road. The dam ruptured March 31 during historic floods, and released
approximately 180 million gallons of water that damaged town roads and private
property in Hopkinton. Blue Pond dam was deemed a significant hazard dam, which is
a dam where failure or mis-operation can cause major economic loss such as a washout
of two or more roads or structural damage. DEM officials said they acted because the
dam owners had been warned previously by engineers that the dam was unsafe and
required repair. The owners failed to act to correct the unsafe condition which led to the
rupture. Ashville Corporation and Greene Plastics Corporation have 20 days from the
receipt of the NOV to request a hearing before DEM’s Administrative Adjudication
Division.
Source: http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_news/south_county/dem-issuesviolation-notice-to-owners-of-blue-pond-dam
[Return to top]
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DHS Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report Contact Information
About the reports - The DHS Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report is a daily [Monday through Friday]
summary of open-source published information concerning significant critical infrastructure issues. The DHS Daily
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